Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

savingholmes

I would run screaming from the other guy. Sorry to hear your events are being cancelled. Will you still be paid or was it all voluntary?

Humdinger1

AJ

Agree re shadow gardener! See those hills? Run, run as fast as you can.  The astounding thing is that he thought no one would check.  Arrogant,  entitled and dodgy is how it comes across.

Yep, things are going to change.  I am finding the boards, on the whole, to be a haven of common sense and practical prep.  I know the media need to keep people informed but there's a wide gap between that and stoking the hysteria, in my view. 

Have just finished doing an inventory of not only the pantry but also the games cupboard,  as making own entertainment is going to be more important than ever.  Well, they could have heard it here first on MSE!

Maybe we could start a list of simple, low/no cost ways to keep cheerful?

Humdinger 

ajmoney

savingholmes said:

I would run screaming from the other guy. Sorry to hear your events are being cancelled. Will you still be paid or was it all voluntary?

I am in the armed forces and it is a part of my job so luckily I will get paid regardless.  Some of the sporting events look like if I do the rescheduled events with them the entry fee etc will be carried over but that all depends on whether I am free for whatever date it might be.

I went on the holiday website last night, still concerned about not having paid for the deposit on my credit card.  Obviously it is too soon for them to make any decision on what will happen but if it gets cancelled we will either be able to transfer the deposit onto another holiday or get a refund so no worries there.

ajmoney

I am trying to do something productive with all the extra time I seem to be getting now. We are going into work for a brief this morning, I have no idea what we are going to be doing. So I am using the flylady thread to determine the room and each day I am going to clear the cupboards in there, clean them, put back what is needed and at some point charity shop whatever doesn't make the cut. I will do a basic clean as I go and then next week do a deep spring clean.
I saw something on a social media post yesterday,and a bit like RED January where you exercise everyday in the month but exercising every day during this restricted time. I am aiming to walk 5k a day plus whatever else I manage to do.

Suffolk_lass

Oh I am loving the turning to flylady thing - I shall do the quick bathroom thing this morning and then we have dogs to walk for people who can't. And gifts to distribute for people who have done chargeable work for free.

shangaijimmy

I'm gonna walk the paws of the pooch for as many days as allowed, otherwise I'll be grumpy and snippy with everyone! 20k steps yesterday and aiming for 15k per day...! 

ajmoney

As of yesterday the plan was to keep going at work for as long as possible/we were allowed.  At 10 this morning we were trying to find ways of keeping everyone buoyant at work.  By 11 we were discussing what we needed to put in place to send everyone home at 1.30 for the rest of the week with a view to meeting again at Monday to see where things were.  At 2.30 the plan (which is still in place) is to stay at home from now on, it definitely shows how quickly things have been changing.  I abandoned some of yesterday's plans to sort all my storage out this week as it looked like I was keeping normal working hours, from tomorrow this will start.  I am going to try and keep some sort of routine where possible and desperately hope that I don't get ill.

savingholmes

Yes life is changing very fast. Stay safe.

ajmoney

Day 2 of trying to be sensible.

Yesterday I went for a walk/run and only saw 2 people on bikes, I think from today it might get a little busier.  I cleaned the inside of my car, it could be better but I don't want to do everything straight away (I plan to properly clean the foot mats next time). I went and got some shopping for Mr AJM as he is still working and struggling to get anything and some baby formula for a friend who was panicking because she couldn't get any. I dropped the formula off and stayed for a little while sitting in the opposite corner of the room.  I would have happily put it on the doorstep but her baby is only 3 weeks old and in the crazy world she is really struggling.  As a group of friends we are really worried about post natal depression so we are doing what we can.  I am isolating rather than distancng myself so I can help out of need be.  The irony is not lost on me that the only person I am seeing is Mr AJM!  I also cleaned the inside of all the cupboards in my bedroom.

Today I decided I really should get some shopping for me, looking in the cupboards and freezer I didn't have much.  It probably looked to some that I was buying what everyone else is stock piling but what I actually have will hopefully give me meals for the next week and extras to put in the freezer.  I had a heating engineer come to give me a quote.  I don't need a new boiler and he said the radiators are fine too but I have asked him to quote me for more efficient ones.  He is also giving me a price to put a radiator in my kitchen as it is quite cold and replacing the current towel rail with a larger one in the bathroom as that is the coldest room and when me towel is on there it doesn't heat the room.  I am going to go around each room and see what workmen jobs I need doing and see if I can get quotes for them (so long as they and I am well).

I am knitting a tea cosy for Mr AJM at the moment and have just finished the outer layer, the liner seems more simple so I will move onto that next.  I am trying to split my time between that inside and some gardening. 

ajmoney

My Saturdays normally start with parkrun, that has now been cancelled so along with some of my fellow RDs we used google meet to join as a group and complete the big parkrun quiz online; still together but observing the government guidance.

I have a gardener coming in half an hour to quote for tidying up.  He put the leaflet through the door after all this started so I will see what he says but now I have more time I might do some or all of it myself.  The other option is he does it (if it is a reasonable price) and I can the plant but I am mindful of keeping my money tight.

The next couple of days look good weather wise so I am going to try and concentrate on doing things outside.  Either today or tomorrow I am going to sort out my shed as it is the one things I haven't done anything with since I moved in.  It will take all my courage and strength as I am not very good with spiders etc but I am determined to do this and it will help longer term with working out there and trying to get it as I want it.

I am going to set my turbo trainer up for my bike in the garage, I keep being tempted to bring it inside but for now I am going to resist the urge which will be more hygienic.  I am also going to concentrate on the 2 spare rooms, organising those and getting rid of whatever I don't need, that way if the recycling centre is still open I can dispose of things or use the charity bags that are coming through the door and finally feel those rooms are in order and clean.  Then I can look to the rooms that I use all the time.

This is day 3 for me and I haven't got a clue how I am going to spend all my time but I am trying where possible to live frugally and resist the temptation to buy stuff to keep me going.  I am going to look into replacing the sealant n my shower though...it really needs doing and I am going to attempt it myself.